This Week on the Farm 3/16

This Week on the Farm 3/16

Our new greenhouse is up and the plastic is on! We spent Saturday building the end walls. For most of the day there were three of us per side and at the end of the day Tyler said that I have now officially become a job foreman whenever we have building projects on the farm!

Sunday we finished blocking the bottom sill to strengthen it from the outward pressure of the hoops. We also stole all of Washes dog tennis balls and cut them in half to place over any jagged corners of pipe. Duct taped in place they really do the trick protecting the plastic from snagging. We also managed to get one of the end walls covered before it got dark.

Monday we covered the other end wall and put up both layers of plastic on the roof. We also placed the exhaust fan in the east wall. The frame that Tyler built for the fan was a perfect fit and with the lag bolts tying it in tight to the wall it should be very secure.

Since Monday we have gotten the plumbing hooked up and all of the wiring done in the greenhouse. We now have power, which is excellent news since we can now run the fan. So far Tyler has been doing all of the interior work without a fan in a greenhouse where the temps are above 90. Today work in the greenhouse should be much more pleasant.

Yesterday Don and I spent the afternoon working on old farrowing crates. We are reworking them to use as the base for our tables. I think we finally figured out how we are going to reassemble them to work as tables. Now we just have to put together 11 more tables. Hopefully we will have all of the tables installed by early next week.

To see more pictures of the greenhouse build check out our facebook page.

In plant news, our last backordered crop has arrived. We now have all of the seed for this season in the house, which is a great feeling. Tuesday I planted the third planting of scallions and the first planting of kohlrabi. I also planted collards and brussels sprouts. We have a little bit of space in our old greenhouses, but I think after next week’s plantings we will need to move into our new greenhouse.

We are going to be at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner in Madison tomorrow (Saturday March 17) to promote our new pick-up site there. If you are in the area from 8am-1pm you should stop by and say hi!